


Insomnia

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21871474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack has trouble falling asleep and Alex tries to help him, despite being sick.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

When Alex woke up at one thirty in the morning to a scratchy throat and a pounding head, he wasn’t happy. All Time Low were currently on tour, and they were on the bus on the way to the next city they were set to play.   
During the day, Alex discovered that he’d come down with what seemed like a bad cold, much to his annoyance. Luckily, it’d been an off day, so he spent most of his time doing nothing, hoping that getting rest would help him to feel better for the show the next night. He’d gone to bed for the night around ten, which is why he was frustrated about waking up again. He knew that if he wanted any chance at falling back to sleep, he’d have to get up and get some medicine.   
Assuming he was the only person awake, he got up as quietly as he could. He felt a tickle in his throat as he walked to the front of the bus and was able to contain himself until he got to the front, breaking out into a coughing fit as soon as he shut the door to the bunk area.  
“Are you okay, dude?” a voice asked when he was done. Surprised, Alex turned around to see Jack sitting at the table, drinking a glass of wine and looking at something on his phone.  
“I feel like shit, but I’ll be alright. What’re you doing up? It’s late,” Alex pointed out as he took a pain reliever for his head.  
“I can’t sleep. I haven’t really been able to for the past few nights now,” Jack admitted. Alex looked at his friend, and noticed the eyebags he was sporting, and figured out what was going on. Whenever Jack couldn’t sleep, there was usually something going on with him that caused it. After grabbing a water bottle, Alex sat across from Jack at the table.  
“Is everything okay? Like, is there a reason you’ve not been sleeping well?” Alex asked, coughing some.  
“Well, yes, but we can talk about it tomorrow. You need rest so you can get better,” Jack replied, taking a sip of his wine.  
“No way, dude. Now that I know there’s something up with you, I won’t be able to sleep because I’ll want to know what it is. I’ll be fine, just let me know what’s going on,” Alex tried. Jack took a deep breath and sat up some.  
“I honestly don’t even really know how to explain it. My mental health has just been kind of iffy lately. Like, I feel really anxious, and that’s why it’s been hard for me to sleep,” Jack explained, sounding a bit embarrassed.  
“What’s making you anxious? Did something set it off?” Alex continued.  
“It’s not been anything super major, but the only thing I can relate it to was our show the other night. I was already feeling a bit on edge that day, but then I kept fucking up the chords when I was playing, and I guess that my mind has been on a bit of a spiral ever since then. I’ve only gotten a couple hours of sleep every night since that happened,” Jack explained.  
“I’m sorry to hear all of that, man. Why didn’t you tell me before now? You know I would’ve tried to help you deal with everything,” Alex stated.  
“I don’t know, I guess that I thought it would all go away on its own at first, but then it didn’t. I was actually considering talking to you about it last night, but I knew you were coming down with something, and I didn’t want to add any other stress to you. I feel bad about bringing it up now, I know you feel pretty bad,” Jack explained.  
“Don’t feel bad, I want to help you with this. Besides, I’m f-f-” Alex cut himself off with another loud coughing fit that made Jack cringe a bit.  
“I’m fine,” Alex rasped out once he was finally able to calm himself down.  
“Right. Dude, we can deal with this tomorrow, it’s really-” Jack started.  
“No, we’re doing this now. I’m okay, I promise. I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with this alone for the past few days, and that you’ve been so anxious. As far as the show from the other night his concerned, don’t beat yourself up over that. I’m sure the kids hardly noticed, they all seemed to have a great time. You didn’t mess up the rest of the band or anything, so it really wasn’t as bad as you think it was. I understand where you’re coming from, though, I’m hard on myself about the same thing,” Alex explained.  
“I know it was fine, I just hate that it happened, and has set off this chain reaction for me. Like, I just want to sleep and shut my mind off, but it feels impossible. I didn’t fall asleep until about six in the morning last night,” Jack confessed.  
“Anxiety sucks, I wish I could just take it away from you. I can’t do that, but I can try to help you fall asleep tonight,” Alex offered.  
“Do you really want to do all of that? I’d hate to keep you up with all of this,” Jack replied.  
“It’s not a problem. Now, do you want to try to sleep in your bunk or the back lounge?” Alex asked.  
“Maybe the back. That way we can both be comfortable, and you’ll be able to go back to bed if you want to,” Jack replied.  
“I’m just going to stay with you, but the back lounge would be best, I think. Let’s grab our pillows and blankets,” Alex stated. Jack got up and grabbed his glass of wine, but Alex took it away from him.  
“No more of this, it’s not going to help you fall asleep, and I know that you know that it isn’t a good way to deal with your problems,” Alex said, setting the glass in front of him on the table.  
“Hey, I wanted to finish that first!” Jack exclaimed. As if on cue, Alex sneezed right over the cup.  
“Do you still want it?” Alex asked sarcastically.  
“Damn it, Alex. I guess I’m going to get my pillow and blanket now,” Jack said, before leaving the front of the bus. Alex quickly made his friend some of the sleepy time tea that they had on the bus before grabbing his pillow and blanket and joining Jack in the back lounge.  
“I made you some of the sleepy time tea, this usually helps me when I have trouble falling asleep,” Alex said, setting himself up on the couch.  
“You should’ve made yourself some, too. It would’ve helped your throat some,” Jack said as he sipped at the tea.  
“Don’t worry about me, tonight is about you. Now, are you really comfortable?” Alex asked.  
“I think so. This is how I normally set myself up when I sleep out here,” Jack replied.  
“Are you really, really comfortable, though? If there’s anything that could be improved with how you’re set up, it’ll make all the difference in you falling asleep. Otherwise, you’ll just think about how something isn’t right or missing and it’ll keep you up more,” Alex stated.  
“Actually, another pillow might make this better. I’ll be right back,” Jack said, starting to get up. Alex pushed him back down as he stood up.  
“No dude, I’ll get it for you. Just stay there and try to be relaxed and comfortable,” Alex said before going to Jack’s bunk and getting another pillow for his friend.  
“Thanks, Alex,” Jack said, setting up the pillow.  
“No problem. Now, do you want to sleep with the TV on or off? I know the light and the noise can be distracting, but whenever I’m anxious and can’t sleep, I’ll turn on the TV to drown out my thoughts,” Alex replied.  
“Maybe something on would be nice,” Jack replied.  
“I’ll put something on, then,” Alex stated, turning on the TV. He scrolled until he found a movie that they both liked quite a bit.  
“Shut your eyes and try to sleep,” Alex said. Jack closed his eyes and listened to the movie that was on. At first, having something on was working for him, but Jack’s mind quickly had other plans.   
He was listening to the dialogue in the movie and relating what the characters were saying to himself and things in his own life. He opened his eyes and started to shift around some, which Alex quickly noticed.  
“What’s wrong, Jack?” Alex asked, turning down the volume on the TV.  
“I don’t know, hearing the dialogue made my mind go off some, I’m sorry,” Jack replied.  
“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. Maybe a movie isn’t the best idea for right now. I’ll put on one of those channels that just plays music, I bet there’s one with calming music that we can listen to,” Alex said, scrolling through the channels again. he eventually found a station targeted at people who want to relax and calm down, and Alex decided that it would be perfect.   
Jack listened to the music, and it actually helped him block out his thoughts some. He was about halfway asleep when Alex suddenly broke into another coughing fit again, completely waking up Jack. He scooted next to Alex and rubbed his back until the fit finally went away.  
“Are you okay, Alex?” Jack asked.  
“That didn’t feel good, but I’ll live. Were you asleep?” Alex asked back.  
“I was about halfway there,” Jack replied.  
“I’m sorry I woke you up. I’ll be right back,” Alex said, getting up. When he came back, he had a box of tissues with him.  
“What’s that for?” Jack asked as Alex took his seat on the couch.  
“Coughing again made my congestion worse. This cold sucks,” Alex said, blowing his nose.  
“I bet. This music channel was actually really helping me. If you want to sleep and get the rest you need, I bet I can probably force myself to sleep,” Jack stated.  
“I’m staying up until I know you’re asleep. If you don’t get enough sleep and take care of yourself, you’ll end up sick like me. You need sleep, and I want to help you for tonight. Anxiety sucks, and I hate that you’ve been dealing with it on your own, so I want to help you out of this toxic pattern so you can get a proper night’s rest before we have a bunch of concert nights in a row,” Alex explained.  
“You really are the best, man. I’ve felt like I have actual insomnia lately, and it’s been hard. Thanks for helping me deal with it,” Jack replied, getting comfortable in his spot.  
“It’s no problem at all, dude. You know that I’m always here for you,” Alex replied, smiling some. Jack wasn’t able to fall asleep until a little after three in the morning, and Alex stayed up with him until he knew that Jack would be able to sleep soundly throughout the night.   
This ended up making Alex sicker the next morning, but all he cared about was that he was able to help his friend some. Jack was glad that Alex would always be willing to help him, no matter what, whenever he needed it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this was a request for XxBlurryDiamondxX! I know I normally don’t post this early in the morning, but I’m about to head to Chicago for the NP show!! I’m going to work on some drafts of requests on the way there, so hopefully I’ll have plenty to post early next week!! As always, I’ll gladly take more requests if you have them, I love writing stories for you guys! I hope you guys liked this story, and I can’t believe I’m only 10 stories away from 100! I never thought I’d post this many, or that people would care enough for this many, so thank you for sticking around, it means the world to me. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
